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Monday, August 3, 2015

Five Secrets of the Potter

“Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” Isaiah 64:8

Five secrets of the Potter:

1. The clay needs to be prepared.

The clay needs to be kneaded and pressed together to remove air bubbles, little pebbles, etc... If these aren’t worked out of the clay it will compromise the integrity of the finished vessel. The clay has to be pure and clean so it will be a strong vessel.

The kneading process isn’t a pleasant one but necessary for the integrity of our character. The strength of our character is so important when He is using us to minister to others. If we have not surrendered to His workings, it will show up eventually, because it weakens us.

Making a clay pot takes a matter of days, but to make a vessel of honor is a life-long process. Our Potter is patient and faithful to His great and beautiful work, i.e. YOU. He will not cast you aside in frustration. He loves you too much to give up on you.

2. The Potter has a master plan.

As the clay is being formed, the Potter has a master-plan. And He brings that to life in the clay. A visitor to the Potter’s house sees a shapeless mass of clay.

What can You make with that?

Oh, I’m making a beautiful serving dish out of this one.

Really? Out of that?

And the Potter does just that with that shapeless clay. He sees something beautiful. In Ephesians 2:10, it says “that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

The word workmanship in the Greek means poiema. It’s where we get the word poem. We are literally His work of art. His masterpiece.

I’ve stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon at sunrise. It was amazing and surreal. I stood in wonder at my marvelous God and His beautiful works. But as beautiful as all this is, did you know that you are His greatest work?

You are His vessel of honor. You are a carrier of His anointing, His presence. When people see the beautiful work He has wrought in you, they can’t help but praise the Potter. His fingerprints are all over your life. You reflect His loving touch.

3. The Potter achieves His purpose by the means of the wheels.

In ancient days, the Potter would spin the top wheel by his feet turning the bottom wheel. As the wheels turn, His hands hold the clay steady and begins to shape it. He shapes it here, presses it, pulls it up, and alters the shape.

The wheels are the times of our lives. The circumstances, events, experiences, it’s what turns the wheels.

As the wheels turn, our lives are in motion. His hands, those steady, loving hands holds us steady as we press into Him. And He shapes us through all the times of our lives. The good, the bad and the ugly, through it all He is making something beautiful.

But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." My times are in your hands; Psalm 31:14-15

4. The clay needs to be centered on the wheel.

The Potter doesn’t take the clay and just slap it anywhere on the wheel. It has to be centered. Otherwise as the wheels turn, it will rip and tear the clay. As long as the clay is in the true center, the wheels can turn even at a dizzying pace, the clay will stay steady and easily shaped.

This life can do a number on us. The wheels can stagger us if we aren’t centered on Jesus. There is so much that can distract and pull us away from Him. We need desperately to be anchored in Him. We need to be in the Word. Let the wheels spin, we won’t be shaken! He’s got the wheels and He’s got us!

5. The Potter is able to reshape and remake us.

Do you feel yourself to be a failure? Is your life a disappointment? Do you think it’s too late for you?

Our Potter is a God of restoration. There is no clay beyond hope. I can testify to that. I wouldn’t be writing this now if not for God’s touch in my life. Believe me, I’ve felt myself to be a disappointment. It’s too late for me. But I was wrong. He did not abandon the work of His hands. He has done something beyond what I could have imagined.

Don’t you disqualify yourself! You have not been shaped to sit on the dusty shelf. This brings us to the most important part of the process: Yielding to His touch in our lives.

“You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"? Isaiah 29:16

We don’t always understand His purpose, His plan for us. We may even fight against His hands. Dear beloved sister, trust Him. Rest in His hands. He knows the end from the beginning.

I don’t know what He saw in me. This shapeless mass of clay. I don’t understand why He chose me, picked me up and shaped me. But He did. He did it because He loves me and thinks I’m beautiful. Do you believe that about yourself? I don’t exactly find it easy to believe it myself. But it is true.

About Me

I'm a empty nester who loves flowers, birds, photography, travel, football, and Jesus. Just a country girl who loves to porch sit, go for walks, and eat good food. I am a life that was transformed by my Jesus. Come in and let's visit awhile.